A double-points finish for Ferrari in the Canadian Grand Prix after a strong performance on track and strategically came as a boost for the team.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth in Montreal two weeks ago, one place up from team-mate Carlos Sainz.
The pair had started 10th and 11th respectively, using a one-stop strategy to gain track position, holding it for the balance of the race.
It marked Ferrari’s best result since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Leclerc was third and Sainz fifth.
More than that, however, was how it achieved the result.
Rather than holding on to a solid qualifying performance, the team used an aggressive strategy to make early gains.
It was a brave and decisive call from the Scuderia’s pit wall, something that has not always been forthcoming and relied on the car not suffering excessive tyre degradation – a problem in 2023.
“It was a good boost for the whole team,” observed Sainz.
“Mainly looking at the race pace, after a couple of difficult races where we were struggling with race pace, finally, in Canada, we seem to have good race pace.
“Also, the fact that we were going forward in the race and not going backwards makes a bit of a difference also, for the perception of things.
“We actually finished fourth and fifth, these are very similar results from any other race weekend that we’ve had, but the perception, the way that we were on the race, the pace was definitely different, which was good news.
“A boost of motivation for the whole team.”
While primary to the team’s success was the strategy call, which hinged on the drivers keeping their tyres alive.
On that front, Sainz claimed he and Leclerc did nothing differently.
While on the one hand that is an encouraging statement for the tifosi, it’s also a byproduct of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“Same as any other race weekend,” he said when asked how the team managed tyre degradation when it has struggled to do so previously.
“Just a lower deg circuit which helps us for sure.
“It just shows that when you have a good race car, or when your tyre management is good, also the strategy is simpler, it’s easier to make the strategy work.
“That’s what we’re focusing on, to make sure that we focus on the race pace and make sure that we have more often the car of Canada than the car of Barcelona.
“That will help up to, in the races, move forward; make our strategy more flexible and have obviously more fun in the race.”
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